The Knight and the Paladin - A series of Oneshots

17 Seven days of Vacation, Day 4: Pancakes and Red Rocket

Kat woke up freezing. She remembered how she was falling asleep. A smug smile appeared on her face. Danse still laid beside her snoring softly and mumbling in his sleep. She gave him a soft kiss on the forehead before she stood up and put on a fresh shirt. She went down into the kitchen. Today she wanted to be the one making breakfast for them. She made pancakes from brahmin milk and razor grain flour and added a pinch of sugar. She had a saucepan on the stove where she caramelized sugar and a piece of butter into a creamy caramel sauce. A pinch of salt brought out more of the flavor. She heard Danse yawning and made some freshly brewed coffee.

He came downstairs with nothing more than shorts. He rubbed his eyes and his hair was hanging into his face. "Good morning handsome.", Kat greeted him with a shy smile after she flipped another pancake. Danse came to her and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Good morning to you too.", he said and grabbed both cups of coffee. He sat down on the couch and looked how Kat flipped the last pancake out of the pan. She came over with three plates, two empty and the third filled with the pancakes. She put a saucer on the table and brought the saucepan with the caramel sauce. Danse put four pancakes at once on his plate, covering them with the brown gooey sauce.

Kat did the same and as they both took the first bite they squealed. It was a long time since Kat last ate pancakes. She looked at Danse who was completely somewhere else. "Danse, are you okay?", she said, a brow furrowed. He blinked and looked at her. "Wha..? Yes, yes I am. It's just that it's been a long time since I ate something this delicious." He sighed. Kat smiled at him "Then feel free to eat as much as you can stomach." and took another bite. Soon all plates were empty and Danse had a little pancake belly. Kat softly patted it and asked jokingly "What do you think it'll be? A boy or girl?" and laughed. Danse leaned back into the couch and couldn't contain the burp erupting from his stomach. He held a hand to his mouth and went red. Kat only laughed and said "Bless you."

The day was clear and warm. The rain from yesterday let the air smell fresh and earthy, just like petrichor. Kat grew to that smell and Danse loved it anyway. It always put a smile on his face. Today they went to Arturo at Commonwealth Weaponry to buy all his fusion cells and one or two modifications for their laser rifles. Kat paid for everything. Danse felt a little ashamed because of that, but he wanted to return the favor no matter what or how. Then they walked back to Homeplate to stuff away the cells and mods and went for a little stroll around Diamond City. They walked past the marketplace, Valentine's Detective Agency, the water purifier and even the trailer of Diamond City Radio. Abbot at the wall wanted them to fetch more green paint. First they declined but Danse thought it would be nice to help him out.

They grabbed a bit of gear and made their way to Hardware Town. Raiders had used the place as some sort of base and they needed to eliminate them. Kat found them while she crouched through the old store searching for the green paint and heard them talking. Danse nodded and they both aimed at their foes. Before the raiders were able to open fire they all laid dead on the floor. "What was that?" they heard another raider ask. He came around a corner and faced at the barrels of their rifles. Before he could pull his own trigger Kat shot a laser between his eyes. He vaporized immediately.

Kat and Danse moved downwards where Kat finally found some paint; and more raiders. One was looking her way and shot with her pipe pistol. She hissed when the bullet hit her shoulder. Danse had to ran past her to eliminate the woman with quick shots between the eyes. He put his rifle aside and walked over to Kat. "let me see if it went through.", he said already working on her shirt to pull it off. He gently put her arm through the sleeve and looked at her back. "Shit, it's still inside.", he muttered. "I need to remove it before I can give you a stimpak. This is going to hurt." He then went through his bag and searched for the med-kit. Kat only shook her head when he came over with alcohol, tweezers and a stimpak.

He disinfected the wound and the tweezers and began to search for the bullet. Kat screamed of pure agony and almost passed out before Danse pulled out the bullet. He quickly brushed off the blood dripping from the wound and administered the stimpak. Then he bandaged her up and helped her back into her shirt. "I only see blue and yellow paint. If we want green we need to mix it.", she then said through gritted teeth. Danse only nodded and filled the two colors in a mixer. He pushed a button and the machine came to life. It shook and mixed the two colors and as it stopped the green paint flowed into a bucket. Kat wanted to take the bucket but Danse stopped her. "I'm going to take it. Just watch our backs until we're back in the City." Kat huffed and nodded. What else could she do with an injured shoulder.

The walk back gladly was uneventful and Abbot was more than happy to see that they also mixed the right shade of green. He gave the caps to the duo which didn't ask for it. They wanted to decline but Abbot insisted that they took it anyway. They both thanked the man and made their way to Dr. Sun. He looked at the wound and said it looked good for that it just happened 'mere moments ago'. Kat sighed in relief as the doc said she only had to keep it low for a few days and then could do whatever she wanted. She could feel her stomach rumble and longingly she looked over at Power Noodles. "Kathryn, do you want something to eat?", Danse asked her. She looked at him, eyes glistening and nodded.

They walked over to Takahashi and ordered two bowls of his noodles and two bottles of Nuka Cola. Danse paid this time and Kat thanked him with a quick peck on the lips. She ate the noodles faster than Danse. He just looked at her as she wiped her mouth and then emptied a bottle of Nuka Cola. She still surprised him anew each and every day... And he remembered what she had said to him the night before, out in the rain. "I am falling for you. And I'm afraid that this time we share right now won't last forever." If he had to be honest, and he was always honest, he definitely had fallen for her a long time ago. He also remembered the spark in her eyes, while they had sex... He was sure it was the same he felt and he knew that he needed to confess to her before they had to return to the Prydwen.

He sighed. "You okay there?" Kat startled him out of his thoughts. "Yes I am...", he said a bit sad. She hugged him from the side and leaned her head onto his shoulder. "Come let's go home.", she then softly said. They slowly strolled back to Homeplate. Kat sat down onto the couch rubbing at her shoulder. Danse walked behind her and gently massaged her neck and shoulders. She sighed in relief and relaxed into his touch. "I could massage you better upstairs.", Danse stated rubbing his thumbs into her skin. Kat agreed and moved upstairs and he followed her. She took off her shirt and laid down. Danse gently crawled on the bed and sat down onto her butt and continued the massage.

His hands wandered down her back with light pressure. He kept massaging her for at least half an hour before he began to leave trails of kisses on her skin. She responded with a hum. Danse got up and Kat turned around. She tucked at his shirt and he sat down onto her lap leaning down to kiss her. His hands were besides her head and hers still clung at his shirt. He sat up to take it off and leaned down again. They stayed like that for some minutes before Danse broke the kiss and laid down next to her. "I think we should go back to Red Rocket.", Kat said out of the blue. Danse laid on his side facing her. She still laid on her back, facing the ceiling. "I miss Dogmeat...", she then sighed out. "Then we are going back to Red Rocket."

They had packed all their belongings and were ready to move out. Danse was eager to go back, he said he missed his power armor. Piper and Nate were there to say goodbye. Kat hugged her friends and shed a few tears. "Greet the mutt from us and give him all the cuddles.", Piper ordered. Kat nodded and smiled. Piper then hugged Danse and Nate shook his hand. They left Diamond City shortly after noon. If the weather stayed this clear they could make a lot of ground.

They had walked the whole day and finally at dawn the red colored rocket of the station came into view. Excited barks echoed through the air and Dogmeat came running. Kat almost dropped her stuff just to hug the canine but she needed to keep moving. Her feet would kill her if she'd stop now. So she kept walking and Dogmeat walked right next to her waiting for her to pet him. They finally arrived at the station and Kat put her stuff down in the middle of the garage. She sat down and let Dogmeat lick over her face. She was tired but laughed and petted the dog all over his body. He even ran over to Danse and stood on his hind legs to give the tall man some licks to the face. Danse sighed but he had to admit that somehow he missed the dog.

Kat still sat at the ground unable to move. She looked up at Danse pleading "Can you please lift me up? I can't walk anymore..." He chuckled when he scooped her up and brought her to the double sized bed. She thanked him and undressed herself before she rolled up into a ball and fell asleep immediately. Danse also undressed himself and cuddled next to her. He wrapped an arm around her and he too fell asleep fast. And so both didn't know that a young mercenary was around trying to speak with Kathryn about what happened before...